Method and system for providing enhanced caller identification information including screening invalid calling party numbers

ABSTRACT

A system and method deliver audible caller identification information when standard Caller ID information is invalid or cannot be provided. In one disclosed embodiment, the Caller ID information must include a valid number of digits and a valid area code. If the Caller ID information is not valid, a calling party is prompted by an announcement to provide the audible caller identification information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/366,270 filed Mar. 2, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,638 the contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/024,645 filed Dec.14, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,767, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services.More particularly, the present application relates to a method andsystem for providing enhanced caller identification informationincluding screening invalid calling party numbers.

Telecommunications service providers typically offer services thatattempt to provide customers with information that enables them todetermine whether or not to accept a call before answering the call. Oneservice that provides such information is caller identification (“CallerID”). Standard Caller ID services generally provide a customer with anindication of who is calling without requiring the customer to answerthe call. These systems typically retrieve information about the callingparty from a database and provide that information to the called party.Customer premise equipment (CPE) in the form of a display device isgenerally used to provide the called party with a visual readout of thename and/or telephone number associated with the calling party.

However, the effectiveness of Caller ID systems can be reduced due to anumber of different occurrences. One such occurrence is the inability ofa service provider to provide the standard Caller ID information for aparticular incoming call. A service provider may not be able to providethe standard Caller ID information if the Caller ID information isblocked by the calling party, or if the Caller ID information isunavailable or incomplete. This may occur, for example, if the callingparty pressed *67 when initiating the call.

When the standard Caller ID information cannot be provided, the calledparty is not adequately informed about who is calling and cannotdetermine whether or not to accept the incoming call before answeringthe call. Because the effectiveness of Caller ID systems is greatlyreduced when information cannot be provided, an improved system andmethod for providing caller identification information that overcomethese deficiencies are needed.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998 and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present application, is incorporatedherein by reference. This patent application discloses a method andsystem for providing a called party with audible caller identificationinformation when standard caller identification cannot be provided. Whenstandard caller identification cannot be provided, the call is blockedand a request for audible caller identification is transmitted to thecalling party. The audible information is subsequently transmitted tothe called party.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/253,339, filed Feb. 19, 1999, is alsoincorporated herein by reference. This application discloses a methodfor providing enhanced caller identification information when per lineblocking of Caller ID is present. When per line blocking is activatedfor a subscriber line, the Caller ID information for that line is nevertransmitted by the system.

In the systems disclosed in the incorporated patent applications,subscribers that interface with network equipment via Primary RateInterface Trunk Groups have the ability to illegally manipulate the tendigit directory number that is placed in the Calling Party ID field ofthe set up message that is communicated by the network. Instead of thetrue calling party information, such subscribers can place, for example,all zeroes, all ones, numbers having fewer than ten digits, ten digitnumbers that begin with a 0 or 1. Alternatively, such callers can placean invalid Numbering Plan Area (NPA) or area code number, plus sevendigits, in the Calling Party ID field.

In any of these cases, and by not blocking the entry by setting theentry to presentation allowed, the call will bypass the system of theincorporated patent applications and will be presented to the calledparty. Subscribers to the service will see displayed on their Caller IDequipment the phony directory number and an unknown name. This shieldsthe identity of the calling party from the service subscriber.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method which permitdetection and screening of invalid calling party numbers before the callis communicated to the called party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system;

FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processing acall in the telecommunications system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forinhibiting originating customers from bypassing a privacy managementmethod and system of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a portion of the method of FIG. 3in greater detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PRESENTLY PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS

By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments below include a methodand system for providing a called party with audible calleridentification information when standard caller identificationinformation cannot be provided. In one embodiment, calls for whichstandard caller identification information is blocked, unavailable orincomplete are prevented from being connected to the called party. Thedirectory number of the calling party is analyzed to determine if it isa valid number. If the directory number is invalid, the call will betreated as if the calling party information is unavailable. A forwardcall message is transmitted with the directory number of the calledparty contained in a normally unused data field. A presentationindicator for the directory number is set in the forward call message topresentation allowed so that blocking of the called party'sidentification information does not occur.

In response to the forward call message, a request for audible calleridentification information is transmitted to the calling party. If thecalling party provides the requested audible caller identificationinformation, the audible information is transmitted to the called party.Caller identification information can thus be provided to the calledparty when standard caller identification information cannot beprovided.

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of atelecommunications system 100. The system 100 comprises a serviceswitching point (SSP) 102, a signal transfer point (STP) 104, a servicecontrol point (SCP) 106, a first SCP database 108, a second SCP database110, a compact service node (CSN) 112, a central office 114, calledtelephone station 116 and calling telephone station 118. Intelligentnetwork system components, commonly referred to as advanced intelligentnetwork (AIN) components, suitable for implementing the presentembodiment are commercially available from several vendors and are knownto those skilled in the art. AIN components can implement computerreadable program code as known to those skilled in the art. Vendors ofAIN components typically have a preferred programming language andoperating platform as known to those skilled in the art.

SSP 102 preferably comprises an AIN switch that routes calls, recognizesand responds to triggers, generates queries to obtain call informationand responds to returned call information. SSP 102 connects calledtelephone station 116 with central office 114 to enable calls to beplaced between called telephone station 116 and calling telephonestation 118. SSP 102 preferably communicates with SCP 106, centraloffice 114 and CSN 112 by utilizing a signaling protocol such asSignaling System 7 (SS7) or other such signaling protocols as presentlyknown to those skilled in the art or developed in the future. SSP 102preferably generates queries to SCP 106 and receives and responds toresponses to the queries returned from SCP 106. In the illustratedembodiment, communication between the SSP 102 and the SCP 106 employsTransaction Capabilities Applications Protocol or TCAP.

STP 104 preferably comprises a network element that transfers signalingcommunications in response to signaling protocols such as SS7 or othersuch signaling protocols as presently known to those skilled in the artor developed in the future. STP 104 preferably transfers queries fromSSP 102 to SCP 106 and transfers responses to the queries from SCP 106to SSP 102.

SCP 106 preferably comprises an AIN element that stores accountinformation, call information and receives and responds to queries. SCP106 preferably stores account information about a called party's accountas well as call control information in the first SCP database 108 andcan access the stored information. SCP 106 also stores standard calleridentification information in the second SCP database 110 and can accessthe stored caller identification information. SCP 106 receives queriesgenerated by SSP 102 and preferably responds to the queries byperforming database searches to locate the requested call control oraccount information or caller identification information as known tothose skilled in the art. SCP 106 can forward the call control oraccount information or caller identification information to SSP 102.

CSN 112 preferably comprises a network element that enablescommunications between telephone stations 116, 118 and the network. CSN112 can preferably transmit messages to and receive responses fromtelephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can generate announcements that canbe transmitted to telephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can transmitresponses such as audible caller identification information fromtelephone station 118 to telephone station 116 by connecting telephonestations 118, 116 or by recording and playing back the responses asknown to those skilled in the art. The announcements transmitted totelephone station 116 preferably comprise accept and reject optionsalong with requests for input from the telephone station 116. Therequests for input preferably comprise requests for input that can beused by CSN 112 to cancel calls to telephone station 116, connect callsto telephone station 116, forward calls to a voice mail system oranother location such as another telephone line, and transmit messagesto telephone station 118. As used herein, the term voice mail systemmeans all types of message recording systems as known to those skilledin the art. CSN 112 can preferably receive and respond to the inputtransmitted from telephone station 116. The term input means anysuitable signal such as DTMF tones, voice input, dial pulse input ormodem/fax input as known to those skilled in the art.

In alternative embodiments, other system equipment may provide thefunctions provided by CSN 112. For example, equivalent functionality maybe provided by an AIN service node or by an Intelligent Peripheral, asthose terms are understood in the art. These components and others whichare operationally equivalent may be substituted for the CSN 112 in FIG.1.

Database 108 preferably comprises a data storage element for use withSCP 106 as known to those skilled in the art. Database 108 preferablystores account and call control information that can be implemented bySSP 102 to control calls. Such account and call control information isknown to those skilled in the art.

Database 110 preferably comprises a standard caller identification withname database as known to those skilled in the art. When the informationis available in the system, database 110 typically includes the name ofthe person associated with calling telephone station 118, along with thetelephone number that is associated with calling telephone station 118.Database 110 can alternatively comprise a caller assistance database asknown to those skilled in the art. While databases 108, 110 are depictedwithin a telecommunications system, databases 108, 110 can comprise anysuitable databases containing information adapted for use in the presentembodiment and are not limited to databases located within atelecommunications network. It is also important to note that whiledatabases 108, 110 are shown as separate components, they can beimplemented as a single database.

Central office 114 preferably comprises an AIN network switch as knownto those skilled in the art. Central office 114 enables calls to beplaced between calling telephone station 118 and called telephonestation 116. Alternatively, central office 114 can comprise a non-AINnetwork switch as known to those skilled in the art.

Telephone stations 116, 118 preferably comprise analog telephone sets asknown to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, telephone stations1116, 118 can comprise wireless, PCS, ISDN or any other form ofcommunication station known to those skilled in the art. Calledtelephone station 116 preferably includes CPE equipment for use withcaller identification services as known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processing acall in the telecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustratescommunication between SSP 102, SCP 106 and CSN 112 for processing thecall.

At step 202, the calling party at the calling telephone station 118calls the directory number (DN) of the called communication station 116.The calling party may choose to enable Calling Number Delivery Blocking,for example, by dialing *67 before dialing the DN of the calledcommunication station 116. This will block delivery of the standardcaller ID information for the calling telephone station 118. In somesystems, portions of the telecommunications system 100 such as the trunkgroup terminating the call may not pass the standard Caller IDinformation.

At step 204, the terminating SSP 102 recognizes that a terminatingattempt trigger (TAT) is assigned to the called directory number. Inresponse to the TAT, the SSP 102 creates a Termination_Attempt querymessage and transmits the query message to the SCP 106 for analysis. Inthe illustrated embodiment using AIN elements, the query message isformatted according to AIN Release 0.1 TCAP. The query message includesseveral parameters as is known to those ordinarily skilled in the art.For the Termination_Attempt query message, the following parameters arespecified:

UserID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) BearerCapability 01(3.1 KHz) CalledPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) LataLocal Access and Transport Area of Called DN TriggerCriteriaType 15(terminating attempt) CalledPartyStationType Originating LineInformation of the Called DN ChargeNumber ANI of the originatingfacility or ANI of last forwarding station, if available CallingPartyIDDN of the calling party (if available) Presentation Restriction 01(Presentation Restricted) 10 (Number Unavailable) 00 (Presentationallowed) ChargePartyStationType Originating Line Information of thecalling DN OriginalCalledPartyID First party that redirected the callRedirectingPartyID Last party that redirected the call

If the calling party has blocked the standard Caller ID information, orif the system does not pass the standard Caller ID information for thecalling communication station, the CallingPartyID parameter of the TATquery message will not be available. The Presentation RestrictionIndicator parameter will be set to one of the binary values 01 or 10 toindicate this condition. This is in contrast to the situation in whichthe standard Caller ID information is available and the PresentationRestriction Indicator parameter is set to 00, to indicate presentationallowed.

In response to the Termination₁₃ Attempt query, the SCP 106 willvalidate the Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter of theCallingPartyID parameter. If the indicator is set to PresentationRestriction (01) or Number Unavailable (10), the SCP 106 will passrouting information to the SSP 102 in a Forward_Call response message,step 206. Further in response to the Termination_Attempt query, the SCP106 will determine if the called party has set called party requirementsfor tailoring a request message to be sent to the calling party. In oneembodiment, if the message has a presentation restriction set to 00 orpresentation allowed, the SCP 106 will ensure that the calling directorynumber is valid. A variety of validity checks can be performed,including those described below in conjunction with FIGS. 3 and 4. Inanother embodiment, the SCP 106 will examine account information storedat the database 108. If the account information contains a specialdesignator indicating that the called party has specified a customerselected request message should be used for the request message, the SCP106 will pass call control information in the Forward_Call responsemessage indicating this to the SSP 102.

In the illustrated embodiment using AIN elements, the response messageis formatted according to AN Release 0.1 TCAP. The response messageincludes several parameters as is known to those ordinarily skilled inthe art.

In a first embodiment, for the Forward_Call query message, the followingparameters are specified:

CallingPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN from theTermination_Attempt query with presentation allowed) CalledPartyID LeadDN from the ISDN trunk group connecting the CSN; customer-selectedlanguage or format option PrimaryCarrier 0110 (LEC) AMAslpID 008780000(uniquely identifies a service and indicates flat rate)

Thus, in this first embodiment, the SCP 106 detects the CalledPartyIDparameter of the Termination_Attempt query received from the SSP 102. Asnoted above, this parameter is set to the DN of the called party, or thedirectory number of the called telephone station. The SCP 106 placesthis value in the Forward_Call response for the CallingPartyIDparameter. The CallingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response hasan associated Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter. The SCP 106marks this Presentation Restriction Indicator as presentation allowed.The SCP 106 sets a parameter in the call forward message indicating thata customer selected request message may be used for the input. Toindicate the customer-selected language or format option, an existingparameter of the Forward_Call query message is set to a predeterminedvalue. For example, this information may be incorporated in spare bitssuch as the last five digits of the CalledPartyID. Any other suitableparameter may be used for passing this information.

In a second embodiment, a different parameter is used in theForward_Call response message for communicating the called telephonestation's DN. This parameter is the RedirectingPartyID. In thisembodiment, the SCP 106 places the CalledPartyID DN from the TerminationAttempt query message into the RedirectingPartyID of the Forward_Callresponse message. The RedirectingPartyID has an associated PresentationRestriction Indicator parameter. The SCP 106 sets the associatedPresentation Restriction Indicator parameter to presentation allowed. Inthis embodiment, the Forward_Call query message has parameters specifiedas follows:

CallingPartyID DN of the Calling Party (if available) CalledPartyID LeadDN from the ISDN trunk group connecting the CSN PrimaryCarrier 0110(LEC) RedirectingPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN fromthe termination_attempt query) with presentation allowed (overwritesredirection information that the SSP would normally provide);customer-selected language or format option AMAslpID 008780000 (uniquelyidentifies a service and indicates flat rate)

To indicate the customer-selected language or format option, an existingparameter of the Forward_Call query message is set to a predeterminedvalue. For example, in this second embodiment, this information may beincorporated in spare bits such as the last five digits of theRedirectingPartyID. Any other suitable parameter may be used for passingthis information.

At step 208, the SSP 102 receives the Forward_Call response message andoriginates a new call for the forwarded leg. The SSP 102 merges the neworiginating call and the existing terminating call. That is, the SSP 102bridges or reconfigures the call. At this point, the SSP 102 routes thecall as if it received an Analyze_Route message, using the CalledPartyIDin the Forward_Call message to identify the new party. In the firstembodiment described above, the CallingPartyID is the DN to which thetermination attempt trigger is assigned. In the second embodiment, theredirecting number is the DN to which the termination attempt trigger isassigned. The SSP 102 forwards the call to the CSN 112.

At step 210, the forwarded call is answered by the CSN 112. The CSN 112is operative to generate an announcement that is transmitted to thecalling telephone station 118. In the illustrated embodiment, theannouncement is a request which is tailored according to called partyrequirements. One example of a suitable announcement is “The party youare calling does not accept calls from unidentified numbers. At thetone, say your name or the company you represent and your call will becompleted.” This may be the default message. In another example, at therequest of the customer or called party, announcements played to partiescalling the called party may be played in another language such asSpanish or may be sent to the calling party as text data or TDD data.Further, if the called communication station is a business line, amessage more suitable for a business customer of the called party may beplayed rather than the default message, which may be suitable for aresidence telephone. In another example, announcements, prompts ornotifications played to the called party may be tailored to vary fromdefault message at the customer's request. Non-default messages arespecified by the customer at the time the service is initiated. Thenature of the message is set by the parameter received in the callforward message.

After transmission of the announcement to the calling party, the CSN 112then detects a response. If the calling party provides a response, theresponse is recorded as audible caller identification information forsubsequent playback to the called party. If no response is provided, thecall is terminated.

At step 212, the CSN 112 originates a new call to the called telephonestation 116. In the first embodiment described above, the CSN 112originates the new call to the DN found in the CallingPartyID parameterof the Forward_Call response message. The parameter was set to the DN towhich the TAT is assigned. In the second embodiment described above, theCSN 112 originates the new call using the DN found in theRedirectingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response message. Theparameter was set to the DN to which the TAT is assigned.

At step 214, the SSP 102 recognizes that a terminating attempt trigger(TAT) is assigned to the called DN. Based on the TAT, the SSP 102creates a termination_attempt query message and transmits the querymessage to the SCP 106 for analysis. The parameters required for the AINrelease 0.1 TCAP query message in the illustrated embodiment are asfollows:

UserID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) BearerCapability 01(3.1 KHz) CalledPartyID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) LataLocal Access and Transport Area of the Called DN TriggerCriteriaType 15(Termination Attempt) CalledPartyStationType Originating Lineinformation of the called DN ChargeNumber ANI of the originatingfacility CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN) PresentationRestriction 00 (Presentation Allowed) ChargePartyStationType OriginatingLine information of the calling DN

At step 216, the service logic of the SCP 106 will validate thePresentation Restriction Indicator of the CallingPartyID parameter ofthe query message. If the indicator is equal to Presentation Allowed,the SCP 106 will create an Authorize_Termination response message andsend it to the SSP 102. The parameters required for the AIN release 0.1TCAP response message in the illustrated embodiment are as follows:

CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN) ChargeNumber ANI of thecalling party ChargePartyStationType Originating Line information of thecalling DN DisplayText CNAME information

At step 218, when the called party answers the called telephone station116, in the illustrated embodiment the CSN 112 first plays anidentifying message and requests a keypress input. This ensures that ahuman is present to answer the called telephone station 116 anddistinguishes the case where a modem, fax or other equipment answers thecalled telephone station 116. The identifying message may be in alanguage or format specified by the customer or called party at the timethe service is ordered. If the called party accepts the call, the CSN112 connects the original calling party at the calling telephone station118 to the called party at the called telephone station 116.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forinhibiting originating customers from bypassing the privacy managementservice and system illustrated above in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2.The method begins at block 300. At block 302, an originating call isreceived. In one embodiment, this operation may correspond to receivingthe call from a calling communication station at a central office orSSP. In response to the received call, a terminating attempt trigger isgenerated and communicated to a SCP.

At block 304, it is determined if the standard caller identificationinformation for the calling party can be presented. The SCP determinesif the call is received with presentation unavailable or presentationallowed. If the call is marked presentation unavailable, controlproceeds to block 310. If the call is marked presentation allowed, atblock 306 the SCP determines if the calling party directory number is avalid number. In an AIN implementation, when the TAT trigger isreceived, the contents of the Calling Party ID field are examined todetermine if the data in that field correspond to a valid directorynumber. The operation of block 306 will be described in greater detailbelow in conjunction with FIG. 4.

If the calling party directory number is valid, at block 308 the call iscompleted normally. That is, the Calling Party ID is provided to thecalled communication station in accordance with normal caller IDoperation. If a name and number delivery service is available, datacorresponding to the name of the calling party is also retrieved fromstorage in the SCP database or other storage location and communicatedto the called communication station.

If the calling party directory number is not valid, the call is treatedas if the calling party was unavailable, or as if the call was markedpresentation unavailable. At block 310, the call is forwarded to the CSNor other network equipment and the calling party is connected to anannouncement played by the CSN. In one embodiment, the calling party isadvised that the called party does not accept telemarketing calls and isprompted to state the calling party's name or to provide other audiblecaller identification information.

At block 312, the CSN or other network equipment determines if audiblecaller identification is received from the calling party. If not, atblock 314 the call is cancelled and the call ends at block 316, or thecall is otherwise suitably processed. If the audible calleridentification is received, it is recorded at block 318. At block 320,the audible caller identification information is provided to the calledparty, for example, by replaying the recorded information.

At block 322, the called party is given an opportunity to accept thecall after hearing the audible caller identification information. If thecalled party does not accept the call, at block 324 the call is routedaccordingly. For example, the called party may reject the call or sendthe call to voice mail for further processing. If the call is acceptedby the called party at block 322, at block 326 the call is completedbetween the calling communication station and the called communicationstation. The method ends at block 328.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating in greater detail one embodimentof a method for determining if calling party identification informationis valid for a received call. The method acts illustrated in FIG. 4 maybe embodied as software or other program code stored and processed atthe SCP. After processing block 304 (FIG. 3), control proceeds to block402 in the embodiment of FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates one set of tests todetermine if the calling party identification information received fromthe calling communication station is valid. Other test may be performedinstead or in addition to any one or more of the tests illustrated inFIG. 4. However, the tests illustrated in FIG. 4 have been determined tocatch the bulk of phony directory numbers submitted by a calling partyin an attempt to bypass the service shown in FIG. 3.

At block 402, it is determined if the calling party identificationinformation contains 10 digits. It is assumed that the calling partyidentification will be a directory number of the form NPA-NXX-XXXX. NPAor Numbering Plan Area is a three digit number corresponding to theoriginating area code. These are assigned by an industry organization.Only a limited number of NPA values are permitted in accordance withindustry standards. Some three digit combinations are invalid or not yetassigned. NXX is the local central telephone office code. XXXX is theindividual subscriber's number. In alternative systems, other numberingschemes and numbers of digits may be used and the act of block 402 maybe adapted to accommodate these variations. Counting the number ofdigits provides one coarse check on the validity of the calling partyidentification information. If the test of block 402 fails and theCalling Party ID contains other than 10 digits, the call will be treatedas if the calling party was unavailable (presentation unavailable).Control proceeds to block 310, FIG. 3.

Otherwise, control proceeds to block 404 and the service logic of theSCP or other equipment will inspect the first digit of the Calling PartyID. Again, it is assumed that the NPA-NXX-XXXX convention is used.According to this convention, NPA numbers must begin with any numberbetween 2 and 9 inclusive. If the first digit is a 0 or a 1, the CallingParty ID is not a valid telephone number. If the first digit is a 0 or1, the call will be treated as if the calling party was unavailable(presentation unavailable). Control then proceeds to block 310, FIG. 3.Again, if other rules or conventions specifying the position and contentof valid numbers are in place, the illustrated tests may be adapted toreflect these rules or conventions.

Otherwise, control proceeds to block 406. At block 406, the first threedigits of the Calling Party ID or the NPA are compared with the contentsof a Valid NPA Table. This table may be stored at the SCP database, forexample, or any other convenient location. This table stores a list ofvalid NPA numbers or telephone area codes. As noted above, only alimited number of NPA numbers have been adopted. At block 408, it isdetermined if the first three digits of the Calling Party ID match avalid NPA from the Valid NPA Table. If not, the call will be treated asif the calling party was unavailable (presentation unavailable). Controlproceeds to block 310, FIG. 3. In all cases where the calling party istreated as unavailable, the call will be intercepted before completionto the called party. The calling party will be requested to state a nameor otherwise provide audible caller identification information, or enteran access code. If the first three digits match a valid NPA, controlproceeds to block 308, FIG. 3, and the call is completed to the calledparty.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the present embodiments provide asystem and method for delivering audible caller identificationinformation when standard Caller ID information cannot be provided. Thecalling party identification information is tested to ensure that thecalling party identification represents a valid directory number. An SCPperforms one or more validity tests on the calling directory number. Ifan invalid directory number is detected, the SCP routes the call to aservice which requires that the calling party state a name for playbackto the called party or enter an access code. The SCP detects thedirectory number to which a terminating attempt trigger is assigned andplaces this directory number in a parameter for transmission to the SSPusing a forward_call message. The SCP prompts the calling party toprovide audible caller identification information. The called party isthen advised of the incoming call. In this manner, callers who seek tobypass the privacy management service used by subscribers are blockedbefore completion of the call.

It is to be understood that a wide range of changes and modifications tothe embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in theart and are contemplated. It is therefore intended that the foregoingdetailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting,and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including allequivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A method for processing a call from a calling party at a callingcommunication station to a called party at a called communicationstation, the method comprising: receiving the call from the callingcommunication station; transmitting a termination attempt query from afirst network element; communicating the termination attempt query to asecond network element, wherein the second network element is configuredto: determine whether caller identification information contained withinin the termination attempt query is valid; determine whether standardcaller identification information for the calling communication stationcan be provided to the called communication station; identify the callas presentation unavailable when caller identification information isunavailable; completing the call to the called party when the calleridentification information contained within in the termination attemptquery is valid; receiving a forward call message when the call isidentified as presentation unavailable, wherein the forward call messageincludes a presentation indicator associated with the calledcommunication station, and a parameter indicating that a customerselected request message should be used for the request; originating asecond call that requests audible caller identification information inaccordance with the customer selected request message; and transmitting,in connection with the second call, the audible caller identificationinformation to the called communication station in a format specified bythe called party.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network elementis further configured to determine if the Numbering Plan Area of thecaller identification information is invalid.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the network element is further configured to determine if theNumbering Plan Area of the caller identification information is anapproved Numbering Plan Area number.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe second network element is further configured to determine a firstdigit of the Numbering Plan Area of the caller identificationinformation.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second networkelement is further configured to determine if the caller identificationcontains a valid number of digits.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thesecond network element is further configured to determine whether thecaller identification contains ten digits.
 7. A method for processing acall from a calling party at a calling communication station to a calledparty at a called communication station, the method comprising:receiving the call from the calling communication station; transmittinga termination attempt query from a first network element; communicatingthe termination attempt query to a second network element, wherein thesecond network element is configured to: detect in the terminationattempt query the caller identification information for the callingcommunication station; determine whether the caller identificationinformation is valid; process, if the caller identification informationis not valid, the call as if the call is marked presentationunavailable; determine whether standard caller identificationinformation for the calling communication station can be provided to thecalled communication station; identify the call as a presentationunavailable call when the caller identification information for thecalling communication station cannot be provided; completing the call tothe called party when the caller identification information containedwithin in the termination attempt query is valid; receiving a forwardcall message at the switch for calls identified as presentationunavailable calls, wherein the forward call message includes: anidentifier associated with the called communication station; apresentation indicator associated with the called communication station,the presentation indicator being set to presentation allowed, and aparameter indicating that a customer selected request message should beused for the request; originating a second call in response to theforward call message; transmitting a request for audible calleridentification information to the calling communication station inaccordance with the customer selected request message; and transmittingthe audible caller identification information to the calledcommunication station in a format specified by the called party.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the second network element is furtherconfigured to determine if the Numbering Plan Area of the calleridentification information is invalid.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe second network element is further configured to determine if theNumbering Plan Area of the caller identification information is anapproved Numbering Plan Area number.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinthe second network element is further configured to determine a firstdigit of the Numbering Plan Area of the caller identificationinformation.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the second networkelement is further configured to determine if the caller identificationcontains a valid number of digits.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe second network element is further configured to determine whetherthe caller identification contains ten digits.